Affect
by Me Lokey
Summary: Never crosses Zoro's mind, Luffy will affect his life. And saving her from troubles isn't an easy task either. But, he's trying his best to keep his promise, that's the only thing he's best at. fem!Luffy X Zoro. ZoLu!
1. Chapter 1

**Warning: **Fem!Luffy X Zoro (Zolu), semi-AUish, whim plot, excruciatingly and ridiculously SLOW but fluffy(?) update.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own One Piece.

* * *

Never crossed Zoro's mind, the rubbergirl who had proclaimed to be the next Pirate King would be his savior.

Never crossed Zoro's mind, the reckless girl who had bullets raining down on her to save his life would be his captain.

And never crossed Zoro's mind, this crazy, idiotic captain named Monkey D. Luffy would be encroaching greatly upon his life.

No, encroaching is too much. _Affecting _suits better.

In the middle of widespread devastation, there stood Bartholomew Kuma, grabbing his unconscious captain.

Panic shot up his body. Before Zoro could restructure his brain, his body had already launched forward and his hand clutched the _Wado Ichimonji_ greatly. Without warning Zoro swiftly performed _Shishi_ _Sonson_, slicing up Kuma's left shoulder. It startled the big guy for a moment, however little did Zoro know, Kuma is a frigging cyborg.

"Bastard…?! This body!" Zoro panted. "So you're a cyborg… Just like Franky?! No, this hardness is way higher than steel's!"

A beam literally exploding out of Kuma's mouth answered his question.

Fortunate for Zoro, he managed to jump out of its range though his luck didn't last long enough; he landed on an enormous rock instead. Then, he saw a steel slowly melt down. _Fuck!_ "Even steel… gets melted."

"I am indeed a cyborg, but I am far beyond Franky's type," Kuma finally spoke up. "I am what they call 'Pacifista'. An incomplete human weapon created by the World Government."

It caught Zoro's attention. "Pacifista?"

"The project founder is Dr. Vegapunk, the genius scientist from the World Government. He is the man who possesses the greatest brain in the world. His knowledge of science is what others could only discover 500 years from now."

"…with this kind of body and such devil fruit ability… it seems that out hope has already vanished," heavy pants lowered his volume. Damn this body. "Even my body… is no longer in my control," Zoro hated it but he had to admit the truth anyway. After all, his wounds had spoken for him.

In a shaking voice, he asked the big guy; "…why… must you take Luffy's head?!" Zoro couldn't fathom himself. Why did the question slip out of his mouth? Why he questioned Kuma's action? The answer was obvious; she's a goddamned wanted pirate!

But, he couldn't help it.

"This is my best offer," Kuma replied calmly.

After a few moment of silence. "I see. Go on and take the head…" doubt began to cloud his mind. No, he can't let this happen! Not in the seven hells he's going to let Kuma take her head away! "…However, let mine substitute hers! Let my life exchange for hers! I _beg_ of you!" for the first time in Zoro's life, he was begging for someone's life. And he sounded so pathetic.

"I know my head is not worth much at the moment, but eventually I will become the world's number one swordsman," heavy pants hadn't left his speech. "I'd say exchanging my life for hers is an equally good deal!"

An equally good deal my ass.

Any deals involving your life are never good deals. And Zoro knew this very well. Nonetheless, he couldn't bear to see his captain's death. No, he'd promised her he'd help her achieve her dream! He'd promised himself to stay loyal by her side and witness the glory day when it comes.

"… If you have such a great ambition, then by dying for her, how will you ever be satisfied?" Kuma asked.

"There is already no other way to save the crew! If I can't even protect my captain's dream, then whatever ambition I have is nothing but just talk!" he was still pondering what had leaded him to this extreme decision. Her ridiculous dream? No. Her craziness? No. Her warm smile? He paused. Yes, that warm smile that blooming on her childish face every time they have successfully accomplished a mission—no, he'd say _destroyed_ an island. Her determination to save innocent people. Her sacrifice for her nakama. Everything that she's done for them.

Everything that she's done for _him_.

Yes, her life is worth to be saved. "Luffy must be the one who becomes the Pirate King!"

"Hold on a minute, you jerk," a familiar annoying voice cut in. "What are you going to do if you die?! What happened to your dream… idiot?!" Sanji approached them. "Oi, you big blob," he pointed at Kuma. "Just ignore this marimo swordsman. If you must kill somebody, then just take my life!"

Zoro tried to butt in, but Sanji didn't let him. "I know the Marines don't give a damn about me, but soon enough the man who will be most feared by the Marines will be me!" he spoke in confidence albeit the pants escaping him. "Black Leg Sanji!"

"Come at once! Kill me!" Sanji shouted. "Let the 'Flower of Death' bloom in me!" then, his volume dropped, earning Zoro's attention. "Oi, tell everyone… to take care and that you'll have to find yourselves another chef—"

He didn't finish his words. No, Sanji couldn't. A sudden sharp jab in his left ribs ceased him. Pain immediately coursed through his body. Sanji grabbed Zoro's shoulder and looked into his black eyes. He couldn't read them. _Why are you doing this?_ The question rushed into Sanji's mind before darkness claimed him.

_Because she hasn't learned how to read properly, _he inwardly replied.

With a small thud, Sanji landed on the ground, unconscious. Then, Zoro threw his sword away. "I hope you will keep your promise after I die."

Kuma didn't say anything. He looked at the fallen man before switching his sight to the swordsman. A sigh escaped him. "In that case, if I still lay my hand on Strawhat, my honor would be at stake."

"I would be eternally grateful," Zoro returned the gaze as equally.

"Rest assured of what I will do now," he picked Luffy up with one hand. "As I will leave her unharmed," then, Kuma's expression turned colder. "However, what you are about to experience now is, HELL."

With a gentle touch, Kuma pushed out a giant white bubble out of Luffy's body. "What I am repelling from her body now is pain and fatigue," he put her down back. "All the damage inflicted on her in her battle against Moria is accumulated here. If you wish to die in her place, then you must receive her suffering. Since you already don't have much life left in you, taking this pain will only lead to your death," a cold warning slipped into his calm voice.

"Here, have a try," a small tad of the bubble floated towards him. Zoro was surprised at first how soft it felt when it entered his body.

However, after a mere second, he felt _it_. Eyes widening in shock, a very sharp pain suddenly flooded into his system. His muscles went tense. His joints were creaking loudly. Blood gushed out from his mouth, his wounds. Too much! Too much! Warnings rang inside his head. It felt like thousands of needles—no, swords, or even bullets, anything!—stabbing into his body repeatedly.

A loud scream of pain echoed throughout Thriller Bark, but no one heard it.

Zoro collapsed in agony on the ground. His pants became heavier and louder.

"Well?" Kuma looked at him.

Shit. Too painful! Zoro had never imagined it'd be a hell! He stole a glance at his unconscious captain. She was still sleeping calmly. He almost couldn't believe it, behind that calm sleeping face, she hid such a great pain. Wait, did she always experience this every time they got themselves into fights? Most probably, yes. Stupid captain.

Bracing himself, Zoro muttered under his breath. "Just let me… decide on the location," letting his captain see him in suffer is the last thing in Zoro's list. That'd hurt his pride.

After finding a secure place, far from his nakama, Zoro stood rigidly before the bubble of hell. _Why are you doing this? _The question that had flashed across Sanji's eye came into his mind.

Almost chuckling to himself, Zoro thought the real answer; _I can't imagine living without her anymore._

Taking a deep breath, Zoro dove his hands in.

**x-x-x**

Hours flew past by. Finally, they woke up, groaning in pain—minus, their excited captain, who was dancing around, her D-cup breasts heaving up and down.

"Check it out! My body feels really relaxed! What's going on?!" she turned to see their doctor, Chopper.

"EEEEEEHHH?!" a perplexed scream all she could get from the tiny deer.

"Oi, you're kidding me, are you?!" Franky questioned her. "How are you feeling?!"

"It hurts…" Nami could care less what was her captain experiencing, but her body was aching.

"LIAR!" ironically, Usopp, who was a liar, called Luffy a liar. "How can this be possible?!"

"Is she so badly hurt that she's not making sense of things anymore?" Robin let out a cough, while Brooke was crying endlessly for no reason.

"How can she be alright?" then, Sanji turned his head around, looking for a certain marimo swordsman. "Where did that guy go?! Could it be…?!" a dreaded conclusion came into his mind, but Sanji quickly pushed it away. He scrambled to his feet and searched for Zoro.

Luffy's excitement died away when she couldn't find any sign of her first swordsman. Anxiety slowly building in. She whipped her head around. _Where's Zoro?!_

Quite far from their place, Sanji spotted a figure standing rigidly. "Over there!" Sanji's yell caught Luffy's attention. She immediately joined Sanji. "You freak me out! Oi, where did that Shichibukai go?!" Sanji threw a question.

No answer from Zoro, so they came closer.

The sight startled Luffy greatly. Zoro was rooted to the ground. His eyes showed no sign of life. Blood coated Zoro's muscular being. His wounds became far than severe. His chest heaved up and down, but it was too slow. Too slow for a normal man.

Then, he collapsed.

Fortunately, Luffy had managed to catch him before he landed on the cold hard ground. She embraced him tightly, shooting out some encouraging words; "Don't worry, you'll be safe! I won't let you die! Stay alive, Zoro! Chopper, I need Chopper here!"

He didn't know which one made him happy; knowing Kuma isn't a fucking bastard and kept his promise or seeing his captain breathe and shout like a crazy girl as she is. Nonetheless, he'd prefer the latter.

"Hey…" he brought his wounded hand to touch her cheek. "Great to see you screaming again."

She bit her bottom lip. "Stupid Zoro. I can scream as loud as you want to, but first you've gotta stay alive!"

His eyes went huge as faint blush crept onto his face. It took him a moment to mull over her _real_ meaning. Yes, Luffy is stupid and sometimes her words make no sense. But, he couldn't help favoring her words to the pervert side.

"Shit… don't say such things anymore, will you?" he threw his arm over his face. Zoro could feel his ears reddening.

"Say what?" Luffy blinked. "Scream?"

"Just shut up!"

"Why can't I say scream?"

In the end, Sanji, who had been witnessing their moment, decided to interrupt; "Seriously, Luffy. He's really going to die if you don't stop it," he said in a flat monotone voice while Chopper went hysterical seeing the state of Zoro.

"But, why?" she still asked the same question.

* * *

**Author's O...TL note: **Welcome to my first fanfic for One Piece fandom. It's been my dream to write this pair (I ship this pair to the grave!) and whoop, here we are! And I've thinking of making this fanfic a multichapters fanfic. Saa, who knows.

Enough with my rants, any suggestion or complaints, do tell me. I don't bite.

Till then~


	2. Chapter 2

**Warning: **Fem!Luffy X Zoro (ZoLu), Mildly AU, a bunch of **one-shot**s, whim plot (starting point is chapter 485), ERRORS, excruciatingly and ridiculously SLOW updates.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own One Piece.

* * *

Zoro woke up to a feeling of weight settling over his aching chest. When he cracked open his eyes, he was greeted by an unruly black lock and a familiar sweet scent grazing his nose.

"Luffy?" he craned his neck to have a better view.

"Ah, you're awake."

His eyes clashed with a pair of big innocent black irises.

"What are you doing, using my body as your pillow?" he asked, though not that he hated it—deep down, he was secretly relishing the warmth Luffy emitted and the softness of her busty breasts that lapped over his right arm.

"Listening to your breathing. You were breathing too slow that I really thought you're dying."

"Not an excuse to stay lying on top of me, don't you think?"

Luffy pulled herself into a sitting position, her creamy legs folded either side of her. "Got carried away," she grinned goofily. "Your heartbeat is so calm. Kind of like it."

For that moment, Zoro couldn't hear any stupid music Brooke was singing or hubbub of laughters that assaulted his ears anymore, deafened by his very own heartbeat. And he was glad Luffy wasn't glued to him anymore, or she would've noticed his accelerating pulse.

Zoro tried his best to calm his racing heart. "Instead of sticking here with me, why don't you go eat?" He eyed his surrounding.

People were enjoying themselves, toasting, gobbling food, gulping down more boozes. He could see Franky dancing his weird choregraphy, Chopper chattering away happily with Robin, Brooke excitedly punching the key notes, and Sanji trying to impress Nami with his cooking.

Crazy, and noisy, yet completely normal to him.

"No," she huffed out. "I want Zoro to eat with us, then only I eat."

"Really?" he drawled, throwing her an incredulous look, complete with an arched brow.

"Yes! I told Sanji to save my portion and yours so we can eat together," she shot him a determined look. "I promised to myself I won't eat without you! See, I don't bring any food with me," she held out her arms.

"Oh, then how about after the fight? Bet you begged Sanji to fix something to eat," said Zoro accusingly.

Her mind retreated to the cheese she'd had for the lunch that day. "Well, that...that—I mean, I promised to myself _after_ I've had my lunch—no wrong, my tea snack!" she managed to stutter.

A smirk raised to his lips. Her reaction amused him so much, like a kid getting caught with her hand inside a cookie jar. "And you told me you _won't _eat without me."

"I said _after_, didn't I?" she pouted. "C'mon, let's eat, Zoro. I've got your favorite booze saved as well."

Zoro heaved a sigh at Luffy's wheedling. "Seriously, Luffy, only you can eat like a monster right after destroyed an island. Don't lump me together with you."

"It's just _eating_, not fighting. It's the easiest thing to do; open your mouth, and there your food goes."

"I'd rather sleep than eat right now," he closed his eyes. His body was aching, and Luffy asked him to eat? Yeah, great suggestion, Captain.

Luffy puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. "Then, I won't eat."

"Don't be stubborn. Just go."

"I'm staying."

"You won't last long without food. We both know that, Luffy. _We all_ know that."

"When I said I'm staying, then I'm staying. I won't eat without Zoro!"

Faint scarlet crept up his neck when he heard his name roll deliciously on Luffy's tongue, clicking on the switch of his perverted mind. Zoro _had_ to rip his gaze away from his captain's pouting-determined look, shoving those dirty thoughts away.

In the end, Zoro could only murmur; "Whatever."

They stayed in their position, not exchanging a word.

An excruciating minute crawled past, and Luffy's stomach shamelessly made a loud announcement.

Zoro didn't budge, so did she, keeping her gaze fixated on her first swordman _nakama_.

Another growl was heard, and Luffy began to sweat and fidget, but Zoro didn't move an inch. She groaned under her breath.

Inside, Zoro was snickering at her wearing-thin patience, though he managed to mask his amusement.

Third growl pealed out, and Luffy's resolution wavered. She crawled closer to Zoro, and crushed him—his face, actually—under her busty breasts, looping her arms around him as she wheedled rather loudly. "C'mon, Zoro, let's eat together. I'm starving here! Eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat..."

Now, having his face 'fondled' by her breasts, no less, he couldn't say no, could he?

**x-x-x**

"Where are you going?"

Zoro was halted on his track by a question escaped his captain.

"Sending off _Yubashiri,_" he raised the dead katana in his hand up to the line of Luffy's sight.

Luffy was silent at first. "You okay by yourself? You—"

"Geez, these are just scratches," answered Zoro peevishly, referring to his severe wounds. "I don't need anyone's help. Nothing to worry about."

She remained composed at Zoro's outburst, kept staring at him wordlessly. She does that a lot whenever she has a thought lingering inside her head, and to him, it's completely a normal thing, however, this time, Zoro somewhat couldn't help fidgeting a little under her scrutiny.

Then, she smiled. The kind of smile that made Zoro's breath hitch. Always, without failed.

"I've never doubted your strength, Zoro," she chirped happily. "Thinking you might get lost, that's all."

Zoro stared at her vacuously for a moment, probably the longest moment he ever remembered. Then, he rounded and continued his walking.

"Annoying captain," he muttered without heat under his breath, but her merry laughter reached his ears telling him it was loud and clear enough for her to hear.

_I've never doubted you, never once, and never forever _remained unsaid, but they both knew better.

**x-x-x**

From the previous meeting with Ace, Luffy's brother, Zoro had learned they share special bond that he can never intrude, or interrupt. Whenever they talk to each other, he can never join their conversation, or even listen to them as their topic becomes more and more absurd, combining their stupidity together.

That's why Zoro knows Ace has always been someone very special to Luffy, someone who she loves so much, and cares so much.

And that's why Zoro knew behind her goofy smile and inspiring words, there hid her worries and insecurities for her brother, knowing the Vivre Card he'd given burnt and getting smaller.

But, he knew Luffy had to put up her idiotic mask so they wouldn't stray from their main goal—The New World.

That's her duty as a captain.

So, he did his duty as her crew, supporting her decision and smiling when Luffy said 'it's fine'.

Zoro fell into her cadence again; making another toast, using his absence in the party a day before as her excuse, laughing at the wild sea currents, and watching her scream out her resolution to become the Pirate King once they'd hit the Red Line.

He did what a crew always does; follow your captain's words.

Oh, just how much he hated their current relationship. It put up an invisible distance between them.

Inside, he wished he could just close the nuisance distance between them, wrap his hands around her, and whisper 'It's going to be alright' into her ears.

* * *

**Author's O...TL note: **I just leave this fandom for awhile (if you consider 'few months' is 'awhile'), and POOF! So many new Luffy pairing emerged. And LawxLuffy has caught my attention the most (dude, Law _i__s_ cute, not that I mind), however ZoLu is still my main OTP for One Piece.

Now that I'm back lurking around the fandom, and I just realized, gosh, I was left behind! But, I can't help it, I just continue with my own pace. Slow and steady.


End file.
